Shadows on the Horizon

Backgrounds

• Traits
• Abilities
• Injury and Healing
• Optional Rules
• Experience Awards
• Learning Times
• Crafting

Traits

Traits Caps

SotH uses a staggered Trait Cap. Upon character creation the assignment of Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Traits determines this. Primary gains a +1 to the normal Trait Cap, Secondary is not modified and Tertiary gains a -1 to the normal Trait Cap. So a Mage with Arete 2 will have a Primary Cap of 13, a Secondary Cap of 12 and a Tertiary Cap of 11.

Bidding Limits

At SotH characters cannot generally bid more than twice their trait cap in a test through bonuses. So a Arete 3 Mage with a Physical Primary cannot bid more than 28 in a Physical Shallenge or an Elder Werewolf with Social Tertiary cannot bid more than 34 in a Social Challenge. Anything that Naturally would allow that limit to be surpassed (eg a Totem that gives a Bonus Mental Trait) adds to the Trait Cap for purposes of calculating this, but so do things that would naturally detract from that limit (eg Wound Penalties).

Note: Anything that directly adds named Attribute traits (including Life Magic) is calculated when determining the limit.

Spending Traits

Unless otherwise directly stated anything that calls for spending additional traits is capped at 5 spent per use. This limit is increase to a Mage’s Arete when they exceed Arete 5 and increased by one for every Generation below 8 that a Vampire is.

Abilities in Tests

When bidding traits in a test a player may add the level of associated ability to the total after any other modifications or bonuses are calculated. This does not apply to initiative and is subject to the bidding limit listed above.

Willpower

• A Willpower Trait can be spent to refresh all of your lost Traits in one Attribute category - Physical, Social or Mental. You may do so once per category per game session.
• Expenditure of a Willpower Trait allows you to gain a retest when defending against a Mental or Social Challenge. Trait loss works as normal for such retests.
• Spending one Willpower Trait enables you to enter a challenge for which you lack an appropriate Ability. Thus, you can make a test even if you would normally require a specific Ability that you don’t have or have used up.
• You can expend a Willpower Trait to ignore all wound penalties, up to and including Incapacitated, for the duration of a full turn.
• Certain Gifts require the use of Willpower.
• At Storyteller discretion, you may temporarily suppress a derangement by expending a Willpower Trait.

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Abilities

A character's permanent rating in an ability is added to all Challenges involving that Ability.

All Static difficulties are raised by two.

Example: Bi!!, the Virtual Adept, is attempting to get into the library system so they don't ding him for the books that he's kept out past their due date. He has 11 Mental Traits and 4 Traits of the Computer Ability. When he Challenges and ties, he bids 15 Traits.

Specific Abilities

Linguistics: Languages are not learned linearly, but at an accelerating rate.
O - One additional language
OO - Two additional languages
OOO - Four additional languages
OOOO - Eight additional languages
OOOOO - Sixteen additional languages

*Note* these are not cumulative, so Lingustics x5 DOES NOT get you 31 languages (1+2+4+8+16)

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Backgrounds

Library

Subtract the level in this background from the final number of months required for learning new levels of Spheres, with a minimum of 1. Additionally for each level of Library you can allocate one type of Mage-related Lore or Knowledge that the Mage can learn up to 4 without additional teaching (additional allocation to the same Lore/Knowledge allows them to learn it to 5)

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Merits/Flaws

Shapechanger Kin

4 PT Merit

Gifts: Mage in SotH cannot use Gifts or gain the Gnosis Merit (though Gnosis can be made through use of Prime and Spirit). Rotes that mimic Gifts of the related Fera (and appropriate Tribe or whatever) can be learned as though they were your Tradition's Rotes so long as you have at least Spirit 1 and go through a learning process with a member of that group (like a FIanna or a Simba or whatever you are related to). This process can be used to develop Rotes based on other Gifts that are willingly taught, they will just take the same time as if you were designing a new Rote. Any effects based on known Gifts will count as casting a Rote you are aware of but do not possess rather than being purely Dynamic Magic (per the Magic Difficulty rules). For these purposes the 'effect' of the Rote must follow the effect of the Gift as identically as possible.

Rites: You can learn any Rites Kinfolk are allowed to learn and participate in for the means of helping in such a Rite. Any other effect you wish to have on your own would still be done through Sphere Magic.

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Injury and Healing

(Times listed are those to move up to the next higher level of damage.)

*When a character becomes Incapacitated by Bashing Damage the damage track goes back to the earliest level of existing Bashing Damage and turns it into lethal and each Lethal/Aggravated wound taken pushes the Bashing up a track and applies to the lowest injury level.

**A Medicine roll against 20 minus any remaining temporary Stamina Traits is required (with proper material) to move a Mortally Wounded character up to the Incapacitated Level. While Mortally Wounded the character loses a temporary Stamina Trait each round, then a temporary Physical trait each round until they are gone. Once all temporary traits are gone they lose a permanent Physical Trait (again starting with Stamina) every Minute. Once all Physical Traits are gone they will start losing Mental Traits at the same rate. Once these are gone or if the character takes damage beyond this (after the damage stop) the character is dead. First Aid (which does not require proper Medical equipment can be made against the same difficulty to increase temporary loss to1 per Minute and Permanent Loss to 1 per hour.

*** All damage taken from a single blow stops at Mortally Wounded, additional damage after this point will kill the character.

Medical Treatment

At any injury below Mortally Wounded a Medicine or First Aid test can be made at a difficulty of 7 + the current number of wound levels to lower the healing time by 1 wound level lower (with a minimum of 1 Day). As the current Wound Level heals additional tests can be made for each successive Level with the same effect.

Drowning/Suffocating

After the above time elapses the character will lose 1 Physical Trait and take a level of Unsoakable Bashing each Round until death.

Falling

An Athletics, Acrobatics or other appropriate ability at a difficulty of 5 plus the grade of the fall to reduce the damage grade by one 9if you have an appropriate specialty like Tumbling it can be lowered by 2)

Optional Rules

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Experience Awards

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Learning Times

Mage Spheres: Mage Spheres: Tradition Sphere Level x1 Months or Other Sphere Level x2 Months (for consecutive time this will only count as one week each month)
Sorceror Paths: 2x the Path level in Weeks (If the Sorceror has a Mentor that can teach this Path level it is 1x the Path level in Weeks to learn)*
Rotes: Total levels of Spheres in the Rote x1 Weeks (x2 to create a completely new Rote)*
Sorcery Spells and Rituals: 1 Week per Spell or Ritual*
Abilities: No limits for levels 1-3 (though ability to learn it will be considered). 1 Month for the 4th Level and 2 Months for the 5th.*

* These items are all learned continuously and not concurrently. Please note that times for creation of any Wonders (Charms, Talens, Fetishes, Artifacts, etc) are also continuous with these times.

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Crafting

This covers the creation of anything that utilizes the Crafting Skill.

Any Crafter has the ability to create something up to their rating in the Crafts Ability, and sometimes even a point higher. For each level of Craft the item has it gains one relevant Appearance Trait, increases the overall value of the item and gives one point to allocate to the following:

For every level of Crafting the work takes an increment of time starting with a Day for one, then a Week for two, a Month for three, 3 Months for four, and an additional 3 Months for every point beyond that. A test must be made at each increment (usually causing the first two tests to be thrown at the next game) with a Difficulty of 7 +2 for each increment of Craft being tested after the first. The Crafter can stop at any level of success, but upon failure must make 2 simple tests. Failure of both tests means the project is entirely ruined and must be started over, failure of one will set back the Crafting by one increment and full success will hold it where it was. In the last two cases the Crafter can pick up on the work from that Craft level, taking the time again before making another test.

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Random Mutation Charts

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